Powered by the impressive play over the last few weeks, Tennessee Basketball is riding a four-game win streak in the first week of February. The Vols began the conference slate with a 2-3 record, but have since won four in a row to move to 6-3 heading into Saturday night’s game at Kentucky.
Ament’s rise and Tennessee’s win streak have the Volunteers moving up in ESPN’s latest college basketball power rankings. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello has Tennessee tagged as the No. 19 team in the country, which is a three-spot rise from its previous ranking.
“Nate Ament has played himself into the top 10 of ESPN’s freshman of the year rankings this week after yet another terrific performance in the Volunteers’ win over Ole Miss on Tuesday,” Borzello writes. “He finished with 28 points (26 in the second half) on 9-for-15 shooting, also grabbing 6 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists. Ament has now scored at least 17 points in each of his past seven games, including 22 points in four of his past six.”
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In the Vols’ last seven games, Ament is averaging 22.1 points per game. In Tennessee’s last three games, that number jumps all the way up to 24.5 points per game. Nate has been both more patient and more assertive in his offensive game, which has really ramped up Tennessee’s team production as a whole. It’s also taken some of the scoring weight off of Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s shoulders.
Tennessee is the fourth highest-ranked SEC team in the power rankings behind No. 11 Vanderbilt, No. 12 Florida, and No. 16 Arkansas. The Volunteers sit above No. 23 Alabama on the list.
Tennessee is 16-6 following Tuesday night’s win over Ole Miss with back-to-back road trips coming up on the schedule. The Vols will travel to Kentucky for a primetime matchup in Lexington on Saturday night, followed by a trip to Mississippi State next Wednesday night in Starkville.
Tennessee was recently slotted as a projected 5-seed in Joe Lunardi’s bracketology update before the win over Ole Miss on Tuesday.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for live, on-site coverage of the game in Lexington on Saturday night. Kentucky will host Tennessee at 8:30 p.m. ET.
